Legal News for Florida Attorneys. A Florida-based urologist posted his political standpoint on a sign outside his office.
News for Florida lawyers- A doctor posted his political views regarding President Obama’s health care plan on his office door.
Mount Dora, FL—A Florida urologist, who is clearly dissatisfied with President Obama’s health care plan, made his political stand very obvious to patients when he posted a sign on his door stating, “If you voted for Obama, seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years.” The controversial sign prompted a Democratic congressman to threaten to file a complaint against the doctor, though according to the Mount Dora, Florida-based medical professional, he is not literally turning down patients, just attempting to “educate” them with regard to Obama’s newly-implemented health care laws, according to information provided by FoxNews.com.
According to Dr. Jack Cassell, “I think there’s a real, real problem that’s going on here in the country and unfortunately ObamaCare fatally compromises my ability or any doctor’s ability to uphold the Hippocratic Oath… I came across the timeline for implementation of ObamaCare and I got a little discouraged when I got to next year when I found that most of the ancillary services and nursing homes and diagnostic imaging, all these things start to fade away… And I felt that my patients really need to know about this. And the more I thought about it, the angrier I got until I finally felt like I’m going to put a little splash page on my front door and just get people thinking a little bit.”
In an interview with Fox News, Dr. Cassell made it clear that he was not literally refusing to provide patients with care based on their political views. However, he apparently hoped his sign would prompt people to think about the recently passed health care reform bill and the affect he believes it will have.
In response to the sign and it’s suggestive content, Rep. Alan Grayson was allegedly helping a patient, who seemingly took Dr. Cassell’s sign literally, file a complaint. He also reportedly had the intent to file several other complaints regarding his actions. Nonetheless, a Florida Department of Health spokesperson noted a complaint would be “legally deficient” for there is no law specifically prohibiting the doctor from publicizing his political views as he did.
Civil rights statues are in place to protect patients from discrimination based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and/or disability. On the other hand, there is no law preventing Dr. Cassell from expressing his political standpoint, so long as he does not turn down patients or inquire into their personal opinions regarding politics.
Legal News Reporter: Sandra Quinlan- Legal News for Florida Lawyers.